Slider for a sliding clasp fastener



Oct. 25, 1955 2. DESHAW 2,721,366

SLIDER FOR A SLIDING CLASP FASTENER Filed March 10, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Zalian. )LSHFW- AHorm'y Oct. 25, 1955 2. DESHAW 2,721,366

SLIDER FOR A SLIDING CLASP FASTENER Filed March 10, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Z0115 Pisa/7w- Attorney United States Patent SLIDER FOR A SlLlDlNG CLASP FASTENER Zoltan Deshaw, London, England Application March 10, 1954, Serial No. 415,393

3 Claims. (Cl. 24-20515) The present invention relates to a slider for a sliding clasp fastener of the kind comprising opposed shields for guiding two fastener stringers through the slider, the said shields being joined so as to allow spreading apart of the shields at any position of the slider on the stringers at which the slider may have jammed whereby to overcome the jamming.

It has been proposed to construct such sliders so that when their slider shields have been spread apart the sliders are removable from the stringers for releasing the stringers from one another and freeing any material that may have become jammed between the fastener interlocking members of the stringers.

The complete detachability of a slider from the fastener stringers is however a disadvantage because the slider can be easily lost or mislaid or damaged.

It is an object of the invention to provide a slider of the kind described wherein this disadvantage is avoided.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a slider of the kind described which can easily be manufactured and which is yet reliable in use.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a portion of a sliding clasp fastener comprising a slider of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the slider shields spread apart and one of the fastener stringers retained by the slider while the other stringer is detached from the slider;

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the slider;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the slider;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the slider with its shields spread apart;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the slider; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the slider shield adjacent an operating tab of the slider.

The present invention consists broadly in a slider for a sliding clasp fastener comprising two opposed shields for guiding two fastener stringers through the slider, the said shields being joined so as to allow spreading apart of the shields for separating the fastener stringers from one another if the slider has jammed, means being provided for preventing lateral separation of the slider from one of the stringers when the slider shields have been spread. The other stringer can, thus, be freely unfastened from the said one stringer and any material jammed between the fastener interlocking members of the stringers can be released from between said members, yet the slider is retained on the said one stringer, and the risk of its falling away from the fastener and being lost, mislaid or damaged is removed or at least reduced. Nevertheless, the slider can be moved along the stringer with which it is retained up to one end thereof where the stringers are joined so as to be ready to re-engage the stringers when the slider shields are brought back into their initial rela- 2,721,366 Patented Oct. 25, 1955 tive position. Moreover, if at the other end the stringers are not connected to each other, the slider may, at the said other end, be moved endwise off the stringer on which it has been retained.

Preferably, the slider shields are joined by hinging them together about a transverse axis. The preventing means may comprise extensions of the side walls of the slider shields at one side of the slider to engage behind fastener interlocking members anchored to the said one stringer when the slider shields have been spread. The other stringer can, however, be completely detached from the slider and can be readily disengaged from the said one stringer. After the stringers have been disengaged from one another the slider can be moved along the stringer upon which it is retained to the junction of the stringer at one end and thus positioned ready for operation in the reverse direction to re-engage the stringers. If the stringers are separated at the other end, the slider can be moved along the stringer upon which it is retained and completely detached therefrom by moving it longitudinally beyond the other end of the stringer. If the slider can be 'so detached, it is reversible that is to say it can be turned over and fitted to the other stringer.

There may be a tendency for the stringers to be nipped by ends of the slider shields when the slider shields have been spread. To avoid or at least to reduce this tendency, the base ofat least one of the slider shields may be chamfered at one or both sides of its end where the shields approach each other on spreading so as to allow the stringer overlying the chamfer to flex towards the cham fer whereby to prevent the stringer from being nipped by the edges of the shields when the slider shields have been spread. For example, the base of that slider shield which is remote from an operating tab is chamfered. Advantageously, the slider shield remote from an operating tab is provided with a riser element to which the other shield is highedly joined, the riser element having a recess extending substantially in the longitudinal direction of the slider and being arranged to receive at least parts o fastener interlocking members of said one stringer.

The sliding clasp fastener shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises two stringers generally indicated by reference numerals 1M and 162. The stringers 101 and 1112 respectively comprise carrier tapes 1113 and 104 provided with interlocking members 105 and 166. The fastener is opened and closed in known manner by a slider generally indicated by reference numeral 1&7.

The slider (see also Figs. 3 to 7) comprises two opposed slider shields 1 and 12, and an operating tab 22.

The slider shield 1 comprises a base 2, side walls 3 and31, and a riser element generally indicated by reference numeral 5, the riser elements having a wedgeshaped projection 4 and being provided with two transverse bearing grooves 6 and 7, with a rib 7a providing a wedge S, and with faces 9 parallel with the base 2 and extending from the bearing groove 6 towards the groove 7.

The slider shield 12 comprises a base 13 and side walls 14 and 141 adapted to overlie the side walls 3 and 31 respectively of the slider shield 1. The base 2 of the shield 1, its sidewalls 3 and 31, the base 13 of the shield 12, its side walls 14 and 141 and the riser element 5 are arranged to form, in known manner, diverging channels for the passage of the interlocking members 105 and 106 of the two stringers 101 and 1192 in connection with which the slider 107 is used. The base 13 of the shield 12 has a wide perforation 16 merging at shoulders 19 into a narrow slot 15 open at 151 at the end of the upper shield 12 overlying the wedge 8. Thereby the shield 12 is forked, and the limbs 17 of the fork are capable of being elastically forced apart from each other in the general plane of the shield 12. The slot 15 provides at 151 two opposed lateral projections 18. Between, and integral'with, the opposed walls of the slot hinge pins are provided which are aligned and meet, or nearly meet, each other.

The tab 22 for operating the slider is fork-shaped, the portions 23 of the fork being bridged by a pivot pin 24, Which may be formed in one piece with the portions 23. The operating tab 22 as a whole may be formed by casting, moulding or stamping. The portions 23 are formed with peripheral cam faces substantially concentric with the axis of the pivot pin 24 and extending through approximately 180 and terminating in a radial or nearly radial shoulder 26 forming a recess 27 with the adjacent surface of the operating tab 22. The operating tab 22 has a locking finger 29 arranged for extending through the perforation 16 in the shield 12 to engage between adjacent interlocking members 105 for locking the slider in a desired position on the fastener.

At one side of each of the slider shields 1 and 12, the side walls 31 and 141 are extended at 311 and 1411 respectively, the extension 1411 overlying the extension 311. The end, adjacent the riser element 5, of the base 2 of the member 1 is chamfered to provide inclined faces 50 at each side of the riser element 5. The side of the riser element 5, which faces the extension 311, has a recess 52 arranged to receive the free ends of interlocking members 105 on the stringer 101, whereby to promote lateral compactness in the slider.

In assembling the slider, the hinge pins 20 of the slider shield 12 are located in the bearing groove 6, the shield 12 resting with its limbs 17 in surface engagement with the faces 9, and with the lateral projections 18 in contact with the wedge 8. One or each side wall of the bearing groove 6 is peened or turned over to retain the hinge pins 20 in the said bearing groove and to complete the bearing for the said hinge pins. The pivot pin 24 of the operating tab 22 is then located in the bearing groove 7 and one or each side wall of the bearing groove 7 is also peened or turned over to retain the pivot pin 24 in the said bearing groove and to complete the bearing.

Figs. 1 and 4 show the slider closed for normal use with the opposed shields 1 and 12 parallel to each other and the operating tab 22 in the position shown in Fig. 1 or shown in full lines in Fig. 4. In this position, the concentric faces 25 are in contact with, or in close proximity to, the adjacent parts of the outer face of the upper shield 12, the said parts acting as stop faces so that the shield 1 and 12 cannot hinge open about the hinge pins 20. This stop action persists while, for opening or closing the sliding clasp fastener, the operating tab 12 is being turned through almost the whole of its 180 movement until it reaches the position indicated in broken lines at 221 in Figs. 4 and 5 when the shoulders 26 terminating the concentric faces 25 pass beyond the shoulders 19 of the perforation 16 in the base 13 of the shield 12 and overlie the perforation 16. When opposed finger pressure is now applied in clothes-peg-operating fashion on the operating tab 22 and on the outer wall of the base 2 of the shield 1, the operating tab 22 rocks the shield 12 about the hinge pins 20 until the outer surface of the shield 12 fully contacts the adjacent face of the operating tab 22 (see Figs. 2 and 5), the portions of the shield 12 adjacent the shoulders 19 being accommodated in the recesses 27 of the operating tab 22. Thus, the slider is hinged open. During the rocking movement of the shield 12, the lateral projections 18 on the limbs 17 of the said shield slide first along the wedge 8 and subsequently along the straight upright side walls of the rib 7a, and cause the limbs 17 to be forced apart elastically. Thereby, it may be achieved that the rocking movement takes place with a snap action when the operating tab 22 is in the position 221 of Figs. 4 and 5 and the finger pressure exerted overcomes the elastic force of the limbs 17.

When the slider has been hinged open, the side wall extensions 311 and 1411 lie behind interlocking members on the stringer 101 (Fig. 2) so that the stringer 101 is held between the riser element 5 and the extensions 311 and 1411 and cannot be laterally released from the slider 107. Since the other side walls 3 and 14 of the slider are not extended, the other stringer 102 can be laterally detached from the slider 107 as shown in Fig. 2. With the slider 107 retained on the stringer 101 there would be a tendency for the stringer 101 to be nipped between the slider shields 1 and 12 at the end of the slider adjacent the riser element 5, but the inclined faces 50 enable the stringer 101 to flex towards the base 2 of the shield 1 so as to obviate this tendency.

The recess 52 in the riser element 5 accommodates the adjacent ends of interlocking members 105 on the stringer 101 that is retained on the slider 107. The broad end of the slider has to be so wide that the extensions 311 and 1411 lie behind the outer ends of interlocking members 105 on the stringer 101 on which the slider 107 is to be retained. By providing the recess 52, portions of interlocking members 105 are accommodated within the riser element 5, whereby the adjacent end of the slider can be kept narrower than the corresponding end of a similar slider in which such a recess is not provided.

When the slider has been moved to the end of the fastener where the stringers 101 and 102 are normally joined, the slider may be applied again to the other stringer 102 and can be closed in clothes-peg-operating fashion by pressing together the spread apart ends of the shields 1 and 12. During such closing movement, the projections 18 first move along the straight upright side walls of the rib 7a and subsequently along the wedge 8. As soon as the projections 18 have left the said side walls, the closing of the slider is completed with a snap action due to the elasticity of the limbs 17 forcing the upper shield 12 into its position for normal use. Subsequently, the slider may be operated in the usual way for closing and opening the fastener.

After continued use and owing to elastic fatigue, it may happen that the elasticity of the limbs 17 is reduced, whereby the snap action effect referred to above may be reduced accordingly. However, even in this case, the slider cannot unintentionally become detached from the stringer 102 since during normal use of the slider the concentric cam faces 25 of the operating tab 22 in cooperation with the outer face of the upper shield 12 prevent unintentional spreading apart of the slider shields.

It should be clearly understood that the embodiment described is given by way of example only and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined in the claims hereof. In fact, many modifications, omissions and additions are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In and for a sliding clasp fastener, a slider comprising two slider shields, a riser element between the said shields, inturned side walls on the said shields at both sides of the said riser element, the side walls of one shield overlying the corresponding side walls of the other shield, the slider shields, the riser element and the side walls forming a channel for guiding two fastener stringers carrying fastener interlocking members through the slider, means on the said riser element for pivoting the said shields so as to allow pivotally spreading the said shields apart, the overlying side walls at one side of said riser element terminating short of the said pivoting means, and inturned extensions on the overlying side walls at the other side of the said riser element, the said extensions overlying each other, extending into the region of the said pivoting means and being arranged for engaging behind adjacent fastener interlocking members, whereby when the slider shields have been spread apart a stringer of the fastener lying at the said one side of the said riser element can be separated from the slider, while the other fastener stringer lying at the said other side of said riser element is retained in the slider by the said extensions engaging behind adjacent fastener interlocking members of the said other fastener stringer.

2. A slider as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the shields is chamfered at its end where the shields approach each other on spreading, the chamfer being provided at least at one side of the riser element.

3. In and for a sliding clasp fastener, a slider comprising two slider shields, a riser element between the said shields, inturned side walls on the said shields at both sides of the said riser element, the side walls of one shield overlying the corresponding side walls of the other shield, the slider shields, the riser element and the side walls forming a channel for guiding two fastener stringers carrying fastener interlocking members through the slider, means on the said riser element for pivoting the said shields so as to allow pivotally spreading the said shields apart, the overlying side walls at one side of said riser element terminating short of the said pivoting means, inturned extensions on the overlying side walls at the other side of the said riser element, the said extensions element is retained in the slider by the said extensionsengaging behind adjacent fastener interlocking members of the said other fastener stringer, the riser element having a recess extending substantially in the longitudinal direction of the slider and being arranged for receiving at least parts of fastener interlocking members of the said other stringer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,495,176 Nissen Jan. 17, 1950 2,526,653 Gerstman Oct. 24, 1950 2,675,606 Lawson Apr. 20, 1954 

